Michael Rhodes in Eddie’s England squad, recall for Chris Ashton

England head coach Eddie Jones has named former Stormers and Lions loose forward Michael Rhodes in a 44-man pre season squad.

The 30 year old loose forward joined the Saracens in 2015 and is now in line to earn international colours.

Chris Ashton is another notable inclusion, having been recalled to the squad upon his return to England (Sale Sharks) from Toulon. Ashton scored 19 tries in 39 tests, playing his last one in 2014.

A number of players who were rested for the South African tour have not been included but will be monitored during the club season.

“We haven’t selected everyone. There are a number of players we rested from the tour that we have allowed to continue their pre-season with their clubs,” said Jones

This is a pre-season camp so a lot of our players, particularly the ones who went on the South African tour, have just started training with their clubs so it’s just a chance to get a group of players together to have a chat about the season ahead and look at the important areas in developing the team,”

“With just over 12 months until the Rugby World Cup, it is an important time.”

“This camp is all about individual preparation, it’s about looking to see how we can help each of the players improve, how we can help with their selection for the national team, because we have 44 players coming in plus another 15 who are strongly in contention for the Quilter Internationals in November.”